While wandering the lodge Percy cannot ignore a gnawing feeling in her gut. The wardens of this wood, at least here, were all dead or gone. What would happen to this place?
Probably grow wild, as it should be She secretly hopes.
Sigrun begins to explore the Sentinel headquarters, thoroughly going from room to room searching through the various spoils and bringing everything to what she assumed was a room designed to plan attacks.
By the time she has completed her searching the light is mostly gone, the tiredness from the day’s battle has resurfaced, and the leader’s plush bed is increasingly inviting. ”This place is as good a location to spend the night as any, perhaps even longer. We can assess spoils and gear tomorrow.”
Then the question becomes... Percy pauses for effect, ...Who gets the comfy bed?
The elf just rolls his eyes. "I don't know if I'd trust these beds after what I've seen. This is just strange.."
"Well we coud decide the way it is done in my homeland. The person who felled the most of the enemy gets first pick." Sigrun says with a grin.
"SO..in other words, one of the little ones?" His grin grows wider at the comment.
Percy hops down from the table and beams. Why I'd be happy to take it, but it's a little much for someone my size. C'mon sis! We can share!
Taking ten to inspect the bed for cleanliness= 18.
If it looks sanitary, Vashti will drop her pack and shield, take off her armored coat, then collapse face first on the bed.
Muffled through the blankets and pillows (again assume a bunch of bachelors in the woods could keep the place clean),
We gonna go see about this Ooze thing and the portal in the morning, right? Not tonight, right?
Referring to this,
H17 Notebook:
The notebook describes the history of the High Sentinels since Rohkar (the current leader) took over. While they were originally hired to cleanse the Border Wood of bandits and dangerous predators, the High Sentinels realized that they'd be out of a job once this task was complete. To maintain the flow of easy money from Heldren, Rohkar and his gang regularly created 'threats' and publicly 'saved' the town - ensuring they'd continue to stay a necessary part of Heldren's defenses. A few months ago, an ice mephit named Izoze and some winter-touched fey from Irrisen approached Rohkar with an offer. They were constructing a 'winter portal' in the Border Wood and would pay well if the High Sentinels would keep anyone from snooping around. The notebook's final entry is dated two days ago and states that the portal is complete and ready to be activated.
Percy yawns. Ya. I'm out. Of energy. And magic. Her tiny body climbs onto the bed next to Vashti and is asleep in seconds.
Tossing her gear on the floor of the room with the window, Sigrun strips out of her chain shirt and boots, crawling into bed and pulling her sleeping furs over herself.
Allie giggled and ploped into the bed next to Percy. "About time we got respect!" She giggled, obviously joking. "Im worn out, shall we get some shut eye?" Allie looks at the little book she lifted from the pile.
"Okay if I have this? I wouldn't mind writing down fun stuffs!"
She took it anyway and tried the key. Opening it, she rips the old pages out, began to write away.
Non quod mihi suspecta. Actionis inquirenti adhuc sim "daemonium habet." Im 'certus si mihi non semper, sed et nunc. Spero ut limen hiems ... duo, sed non potest imaginari PERC et occidere eum residere soliti erant, et quidem, si ad se strenuo.
Quid est tandem ex omnibus, sicut scribuntur. Sed ante omne tempus eget mauris. Adulteri non minuit, sed uno die in carcerem, ut quoniam id quod sunt, ad me. Et familias suas. Et amicis. Et urna. Et cura. Sed quis enim dolor, qui nunc.
No one suspects a thing about me. I am still trying to convince them of the "demon possesion" act. Im not sure if I can forever, but it will have to do for now. I hope that we get to this winter portal soon... The only two people I can actually imagine NOT killing are Perc and vashti, and even saying two is pushing it.
It good to finally have everything out, written down like this. But I do miss the days before everything was this complicated. But those f*#+ing bastards in that prison will one day pay for what they did to me. And their families. And their friends. And their co-workers. And their pets. Well anyone that has any connection will burn!
Everyone sleeps peacefully through the night and wakes up in the morning feeling refreshed, rested, and ready for a new day. The question remains, "how best to proceed?"
After her morning adulterations and a quick wash, Vashti turns to her group,
So, Winter Portal in the Border Woods then?
Percy begins the morning with a short, brisk walk outside as was her ritual. She returns and eats a portion of her ration of salt beef and cheese with hard travel bread and water without complaint. She's used to the travel food. Allie had a disturbingly consistsent tendency to get the to of them evicted from various towns, so most of their meals were taken on the road.
After breakfast she gathers her gear and folds in the hems of her winter skins.
Winter Portal it is. I guess that means the colder we get, the better. Wonderful.
Allie raises an eyebrow. But there is lots of stuff here to take! "Why dont we look around and take stuff we deem valuable. To trade and such... Isnt gold good? Platinum is better!"
Stretching to loosen up her muscles as she awakens from a night of the deep sleep that comes whit exertion, Sigrun eats from her rations, joining the others in their discussion.
"Yes there is much in the way of spoils of battle to be claimed and equipment that may aid us as we go on. whatever we can;t use or carry now we can leave here and come back to later."
"Enough to trade and use but nothing bad enough to slow us down. Hopefully this place will get a bit easier to handle."
The elf just shivers briefly as he readjusts to the actuality of being in an unnatural winter.
Percy looks around for anything light and valuable, particularly scrolls and other magic stuff. Then she does a final gear check and waits by the door for the others to be ready.
Dibs on the healers kit...not really anything except the cloak is overly interesting to me. But that can be really useful to everyone.
Rummaging through the loot, she picks out a couple things.
"Can I have this silver dagger? Oh and some of these alchemist fires?"
Percy takes possession of all the scrolls and carries them outside like they are contaminated. She gathers kindling and prepares to make a small fire, using the magic items as fuel!
Rummaging through the loot, she picks out a couple things.
"Can I have this silver dagger? Oh and some of these alchemist fires?"
Rolls eyes as she snorts throogh her nose.
More burny stuff for you? Nope, no problem from me.
Percy takes possession of all the scrolls and carries them outside like they are contaminated. She gathers kindling and prepares to make a small fire, using the magic items as fuel!
I only want to char the undead making paper, the rest can be useful. I think Ered can make use of some of it...I think..maybe...
Percy freezes mid flint-stroke. Ered? He is a spell slaver! I've been traveling with a bloody SLAVER all this time! Her nostrils flare and her hands clench the coals that make up the skin on her arms dance to life with rolling waves of red heat.
Slaver? No, I do not think so. He is a ...magus??? I think you call them, skilled equally with blade and spell.
Not unlike your fiery sister, but with more skill at sharp pointy things.
He has not tried to put us in chains or collars that I know of.
Unless that happened at the inn with Sigrun?
She never struck me as the type to wear a collar. Unless you have it backwards and Ered is wearing it?
Sounds like that couple I had at my house a few years ago...
Can't I just travel with normal people?!?
Allie jumps over to Percy. "Hey Percy, its okay!" She tries to calm her sister. "Perhaps we should go outside?" She takes the scrolls and winks at her sister.
Percy's tone turns more and more hostile. I'm normal. My sister can't help it. She was born that way! Ered the Spellslaver studied and practiced and made it a goal of his to take free magic in its beautifully chaotic natural state and bind it into forms that fit how He thinks the world should be! The magic chooses how it wants to be in my sister and I open myself to it and ask if it would inhabit me to perform through me what I think would be beneficial for a given situation. You ask from the Baby Gods and receive blessing from them. He takes it and learns about it to manipulate it like a puppeteer! Like a SLAVER!
Percy huffs and puffs, but relents and follows her sister outside while muttering something about burning damnations.
"Ered's magic is different from yours, but in many places you would be burned for being unnatural. Magic is magic and has saved all our lives just the same. If those would be useful in bringing harm to our enemies then I say we do not destroy them." Sigrun says looking at the gnomes.
Before the sisters leave, Vashti turns to the wall and bows her head, reaching back into her memories of years ago. She speaks, head still down, arms clenched tightly across her stomach.
My husband always told me magic was like the wind or the rain.
Something you could harness and use, but never really a thing you controlled.
As a wizard he learned to use words, gestures and things give the magic a shape.
It was a way to let it have a form, like putting water in a bucket. It has no shape till it was put in the bucket, no purpose.
His spells where a way to let the magic have form and use.
Wouldn't that be a kind of freedom? To do or be, rather than to simply exist?
Percy crosses her arms (painfully) in a stubborn effort to ignore Vashti's and Sigrun's very good points.
Allie just ignores the two, taps her sister on the shoulder, smiles, and skips outside with the scrolls.
Percy huffs and follows. She needed a time out anyway. The Eldest would never stand for this.
Ered wakes slowly among all the commotion and just remains quiet for several seconds, as he listens to them talk.
"Well, she definitely is like my mother...Always saying that magic should come naturally. That it was a matter of herbs and calling on elemental beings, instead of studying it like someone would with a blade."
He slowly shakes his head and stands up.
"These...situations are getting much stranger."
When outside, Allie waves the scrolls at Percy. "You wanted these?" She giggles darkly, handing them over.
Percy huffs, arms still crossed and glowing ominously. I can't believe we're traveling with a Slaver. And now I can't burn those becuase they might be useful. Remind me why we joined up with them again?
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Decades of experience around littles had given her insight to many such tantrums.
She inhales deeply, shakes her head and resumes setting her pack for the journey.
After a moment, she pauses, then motions with her hands and pulls out two muffins from her pocket.
She cracks the door open and places them on the porch, careful to keep them wrapped.
Finally, finding what she wanted at the bottom of her pack she wraps a new, thicker scarf around her neck and places her older scarf within the pack.
The new scarf is thick and warm, it has dozens, possible hundreds of Pharasman swirls meticulously stitched into its thick fabric.
Glancing at the others
Muffin? as she pulls one out of her pocket and begins to nibble.
Percy eyes the muffins suspiciously. Muffins. She loved muffins...
Then there were all those healings. She unconsciously rubs her stomach where the lizard thing had bitten her yesterday. She still felt a lingering regret over that. It's hide would have made a magnificent raw materials.
Maybe these people weren't that bad.
She inches over and snatches one of the peace offerings.